If you've been keeping up with things in the makeup world, blue has been an incredibly popular color. I am glad this is happening because the market has been saturated with too many warm neutrals and sunset colors. Palettes with a cooler-toned color scheme that aren't taupes and grays are very welcome.
Over the last few months, I've amassed quite a collection of blue-toned palettes from different brands and different price points. These are from different drugstore and indie brands and each palette can work for a certain person, depending on their needs and preferences.
Each mini review of these palettes includes a brief description of the palette, swatches, pros and cons, and a bunch of looks I made using each palette. Let's dive in!
ColourPop Cosmetics Blue Moon Palette (Not Vegan)
If you prefer a monochromatic blue palette with a good mix of finishes and no browns, I recommend this one for people who just want a straightforward palette of just blues.
You get pastel blues to use to set your eye primer or to blend out the darker mattes, you get a lot of mid-toned blues, and a couple of deep shades. Here are the swatches:
Pros
If you're already familiar and love the ColourPop formula, this is no different. The mattes are pigmented and easy to blend out and most of the shimmers are soft and don't get hard pan
The pastel shades in this palette (Da Be Dee and Moonlite) are so opaque, definitely go in with a light hand when using them
Unlike some of their monochromatic palettes, this actually has shade diversity and variety in both tones and finishes - I did come up with just blue looks but there were pastel looks, multi-toned blue looks, and deep looks too. Here are my favorites below:
Cons
Unfortunately, that one duochrome shade is exactly like how Colourpop does their duochrome shades, it's loose and crumbly. You need glitter glue for it and you also need to do your eyes first because the fall out can be insane
The darker blues can stain your eyelids so it might not be for people with sensitive skin
I found that "Fine China" and "Clued In" can be hard to blend out and hard to build up if you don't use a wet base. I recommend setting your eye socket/crease area first, packing the darker blues where you need them to be, then carefully blend them out.
Menagerie Cosmetics Whalesong Palette (Vegan)
If you love blues but don't mind a few neutrals to balance out all the blue, then Menagerie Cosmetics has the palette for you. Though this palette does have some browns and greens, it still has enough blues that you can explore but enough variety so your looks won't be so one note.
Of all the palettes, I was most excited to use this one simply because getting this palette wasn't easy. Menagerie Cosmetics does ship to the Philippines, but Philippine customs is notorious for being a corrupt mess. Aside from the many delays, I was scared that my package would get lost while in transit.
Thankfully, that wasn't what happened, and I now have this palette. I recommend you order this through a third party (makeup seller or a loved one abroad) so it's not such a hassle. Anyway, back to these shades. Here are the swatches:
Pros
If you still prefer a transition shade in your colorful palette, this palette has one (Plankton)
The formula of the shades is absolutely amazing - especially if you love soft and super pigmented eyeshadows - the matte shades are really easy to work with and blend out and the metallic shades pick up and apply well too
In terms of being a well-rounded palette, I think this palette has enough blue tones with just enough greens and browns to make a variety of cool-toned (but not monochromatic) looks
Cons
The amount of staining you get on your lids with these shadows is INSANE - swim away if you dislike eyeshadow staining or have really sensitive skin!
These shadows kick up a LOT of product. This is expected of the mattes but Pearl and Fluke are really crumbly and kick up a lot too - you will find yourself blowing this palette a lot
While I don't necessarily consider excessive fallout an issue, it becomes a problem you get blue stains on your nose and cheeks. I highly recommend doing your eye makeup first so you can cover up the stains with foundation and concealer after.
Revolution Makeup Reloaded Palette - Deep Dive (Not Vegan)
The Reloaded palette series that Revolution Makeup does are 15-pan palettes that are known to have superb quality for the price you pay. Some are dupes while many others are their own color schemes. Recently, they've decided to jump on the blue palette trend and introduced Deep Dive.
It features 5 mattes and 11 shimmer shades in varying tones so you can add shimmery pops of color or grunge things up. While this palette does lack neutral shades, there are a lot of tones to the mattes that allow you to create a well-rounded eyeshadow look with depth if needed. Here are the swatches:
Pros
This palette is really affordable and the quality of the reloaded palettes is one of the better ones from Revolution Makeup, so it's especially good for the price
The color range is versatile, especially for people who love having a plethora of metallic shades to work with. Even if I prefer matte shades, I didn't feel super stifled by this palette.
If you have really sensitive skin and stay away from eyeshadows that can leave stains, I didn't notice any staining on my eyelids when I used this
Cons
Some of the shimmer shades are still pretty hard to work with - some are stiff and some are also extremely breakable (I dropped this and there were a lot of casualties)
It's not the most inspiring or fun palette to play with if you prefer having more matte shades
I think there is a bit of overlap with 4 of the shades here and would have liked two more matte shades instead
Ace Beaute Oceanic Palette (Vegan)
If you love the ocean and love versatility, Ace Beaute heard your prayers. This palette is a cool-toned lover's dream!
While Ace Beaute is not the most popular brand here in the Philippines, you can easily purchase this palette and skip the nightmare that is Philippine customs is through a freight forwarding service (I used Shipping Cart). Anyway, here are the swatches:
Pros
If you love pigment but hate the fallout, this palette is a great option. The matte shadows have excellent color payoff but won't kick up a lot of product or fall all over your face
You get a stunning array of cool-toned shadows, with a lot of teals and greens to round out your blue looks if you want
While some of the deeper mattes can stain your lids, they're nothing like Menagerie Cosmetics' level of staining
Cons
I find the metallic shade selection a little confusing, there is a lot of overlap between the shades (Jellyfish and Anemone could have been two different kinds of green for sure)
I'm not the biggest fan of the metallic shades in this palette, I find the formula dry and crumbly
When I look for a good blue-toned palette, l want a bright cerulean in it - and Ace Beaute is the only one in this selection that doesn't have a color like that
My Final Thoughts
After trying out all these palettes, I can honestly say that I don't necessarily think there's one palette that's better than all the others because each of these are different and meet different needs. But if you ask me what palette best fits my needs, I think the Whalesong Palette comes the closest to that.
I really wanted to get out of my shell and use more cool-toned colors this year, and I'm glad that these palettes made me see that I can rock any color I like. Hopefully you've also found this post insightful enough for you to come to a decision on which blue palette will work best for you.
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